Cutting the cats?
 

ok, im either going to be gutting them or cutting them off... im not worried at all about emissions.... what would be better, im sure cutting them off will be, but will cutting them, or gutting them cause any problems? as in running rich/lean, im sure ill need o2 simulators.. but besides that... anything else???

thanks
cory

It shouldn't change anything. The front O2's control the rich/lean condition and they shouldn't be affected. If anything, you might run a tad richer, but I didn't notice anything when I did mine. It was just on the dyno with a sniffer and it was solid with the stock tune.

If you gut your cats, the empty cats will act as a resonance chamber. Personally, I hated the sound, especially with the cutout open. At the track, the gutted cats didn't help, so I put my original cats back on. My advice to you? Find someone who has put on LTs and talk them into giving you their cats. That way, if you don't like it, you can put the original cats back on and then sell the gutted set as a bolt-on solution.

I got my cats (free) from a guy who installed a new exhaust ... headers to tips. I then bought a set of O2 sims for $60. After the install, I hated the sound. So, I sold the entire package for $75 as a bolt-on kit.

If you decide to gut your cats, here's a HUGE tip. DON'T BREATHE THE CRAP COMING OUT!!! Go to the hardware store and spend the $0.50 for a dust mask and wear it.

I was too lazy to go to the store, so I didn't wear a filter. I was blowing out black boogers for weeks. I'd hate to see the inside of my lungs. :eek:

When I gutted the cats, I used a 1.5" diameter PVC pipe, about 4 feet long. That way I could stand the cat on the floor, and stand above it to ram all that crap out.

Good luck to ya.

I would think that if you were simply cutting them off that you could save the rear O2's. Also if you gut them, put a pipe inside so you don't get the resonance that rncotton was talking about. Then if a cop looks under your car he will think you have cats.

yeah i was wondering about the replacing 02 censors, i heard if you gut or run offroad y-pipe you gonna start triggering ses lights? is there another way around this by replacing the 02 censor?the only reason why i havent put a offraod y pipe is cause i dont want to constantly trip my ses light.

o2 simms or get the rear o2's tuned out.

you mean just have them removed?
that wont set off ses lights?

my bad man i just did a search and found out what o2 sims were (felling like a jack ass)sry for the dumb questions i should know better than that..

All the tuners reccomend that ou never use sims. They say they dont work. They say to tune them out.

I dont know why the tuners would say that, cuz ive had two O2 sims in my car for 6 months now and havent gotten a single SES light yet. I still have both cats, but they are both bad, and I was getting a constant SES light before I put them in, now, no SES light. Id say that works

I just had both my cats removed and some o2's put on. So far(knock on wood), my ses light hasn't returned, i think my MPG has increased along with the volume of the exhaust. The sound is more tinny/raspy i would say.